BUT LIKE THE HOLY ONE WHO CALLED (invited) YOU: alla kata ton kalesanta humas hagion: APM:  (1 Peter 2:9; 5:10; Ro 8:28-30; 9:24; Phil 3:14; 1Th 2:12; 4:7; 2Ti 1:9; 2Pe 1:3,10) (Isa 6:3; Rev 3:7; 4:8; 6:10)

Spurgeon...

But is a conjunction marking a strong contrast. What is being contrasted?

Like Peter points his readers to the perfect pattern to pursue in order to produce personal holiness - "like the Holy One". Peter is not using "like" in this instance to introduce a comparison of equals but to indicate the divine standard for holiness. God is the Model of all holiness. Isn't it true that we tend to behave like those we associate with? So too, our close association with Him Who is holy can only serve to awaken in us a sense of our need for His holiness. God is holy in all His ways. If we are to be like Him, we must be holy in all that we do and say. In this life we will never be as holy as He is, but we should be holy because He is.

Albert Barnes adds that

It is a great truth, that people everywhere will imitate the God whom they worship. They will form their character in accordance with his. They will regard what he does as right. They will attempt to rise no higher in virtue than the God whom they adore, and they will practice freely what he is supposed to do or approve. Hence, by knowing what are the characteristics of the gods which are worshipped by any people, we may form a correct estimate of the character of the people themselves; and, hence, as the God who is the object of the Christian's worship is perfectly holy, the character of His worshipers should also be holy. And hence, also, we may see that the tendency of true religion is to make people pure. As the worship of the impure gods of the pagan moulds the character of the worshippers into their image, so the worship of Yahweh moulds the character of His professed friends into His image, and they become like him. (Barnes Notes on the NT)

Holy, Holy, Holy
by Reginald Heber

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy One (40) (hagios) (Click study of hagios) This majestic Name of God is found some 56 times in Scriptures, most uses in the OT and often with the appendage "of Israel". (Click for these 56 occurrences 29 of which are in Isaiah! (Note that the uses in Daniel refer to an angel not God). This would make a great devotional study. Read the passages in context and make a list of the truths you discover about the "Holy One".)

Clarke notes that

"Heathenism scarcely produced a god whose example was not the most abominable; their greatest gods, especially, were paragons of impurity; none of their philosophers could propose the objects of their adoration as objects of imitation. Here Christianity has an infinite advantage over heathenism. God is holy, and he calls upon all who believe in him to imitate his holiness; and the reason why they should be holy is, that God who has called them is holy" (Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, 1715-1832)

God is our standard or pattern, not our lusts. As John Calvin notes Peter

"reasons from the end for which we are called. God sets us apart as a peculiar people for Himself. Then (it follows) we ought to be free from all pollutions."

Dwight Edwards notes that...

"On the cross of Calvary God demonstrated the two great avenues of His character: Love and Holiness. Being a holy God, He had to punish sin. Being a God of great love and mercy, He took the punishment of sin upon himself by allowing his only Son to die in our place (Ro 5:8-9). And these two great qualities of Love and Holiness should so be the two great distinguishing features of our lives. For this reason James penned the words; "Pure and undefiled religion (i.e. true spirituality) before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction (love) and to keep oneself unspotted from the world (holiness). Js 1:27" (1 Peter Well done Exposition)

We are called to be holy (1 Pet 1:15). We are called “out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9). We are called to suffer and follow Christ’s example of meekness (1 Pet 2:21). In the midst of persecution, we are called “to inherit a blessing” (1 P3:9). Best of all, we are called to “His eternal glory” (1 Pet 5:10). God called us before we called on Him for salvation. It is all wholly of grace.

Called (2564)  (kaleo) (See word study of related verbal adjective kletos = the called and also kletos) means to call aloud, to utter in a loud voice, to call to someone in order that he may come or go somewhere as a shepherd calls his flock. A distinctive use of kaleo in the New Testament is to call a person for a definite purpose. Hence, as used in this context, kaleo is synonymous with to select or choose.  Kaleo refers to the act of calling someone so that he may hear, come, and do that which is incumbent upon him. It thus is a word that becomes a technical term for special relationships. In secular Greek it was used of a summons in the law courts. It denotes in the New Testament a call from God or in God’s Name, a call to participate in the revelation of grace. Paul’s use of the word in general suggests that he thought of those only as called who obeyed the divine summons. Of a rejected call he never speaks.

At the beginning of His earthly ministry Jesus "saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them." (Mt 4:21) Notice that here Jesus only called James and John, not Zebedee. Mark says "And immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him." (Mk 1:20) Paul testifies that "when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace," (Gal 1:15).

Paul explains to Timothy that God

has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. (see note 2 Timothy 1:9).

As kaleo is used in the present context it refers to the divine call of God to a participation in salvation.

The writer of Hebrews identifies believers as

holy (saintly) brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling. (see note Hebrews 3:1).

Holy Brethren does not mean that we are sinless, but we certainly should sin less.

In the next chapter Peter reminds his readers of their identity and purpose declaring that

you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (see note 1 Peter 2:9). 

Peter repeats this truth about calling, prayerfully encouraging his suffering readers asking that

the God of all grace, Who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while" might "perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (see note 1 Peter 5:10).

Peter used the related word klesis in a similar way in his second epistle writing

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. (see note 2 Peter 1:10)

To summarize, the called are those who have been summoned by God...called...

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD
by Fanny Crosby

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!
Sing, O ye people, gladly adore Him;
Let the mountains tremble at His word;
Let the hills be joyful before Him;
Mighty in wisdom, boundless in mercy,
Great is Jehovah, King over all.

BE HOLY YOURSELVES ALSO: kai autoi hagioi en pase anastrophe genethete (2PAPM): (Mt 5:48; Lu 1:74,75; 2Co 7:1; Ephesians 5:1,2; Phil 1:27; 2:15,16; 1Thes 4:3-7; Titus 2:11-14; 3:8,14; Heb 12:14; 2Pe 1:4-10) (Click to read devotional by Ron Dunn entitled "Called to Be Holy" or click "Holiness" by J C Ryle or click  Jehovah MeKeddeshim  The "LORD Who Sanctifies". See Holiness quotes)

See Related Resources

Jehovah Mekeddeshem: The LORD Who Sanctifies ("Makes Holy") (Part 1) (Part 2)
Holiness Quotes
Exposition of 1 Peter 1:15-16 "Be Holy as He is Holy"
Holiness - J.C. Ryle
The Attributes of God - His Holiness
The Holiness of God - by A W Pink
Why Would Anyone Want to be Holy? - Radio Bible Class
Holiness: The Root of His Grace - by Sammy Tippit: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Word Studies: Holiness: hagiasmos / Holy: hagios / Holy (One) hosios

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus commanded His hearers...

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (see note Matthew 5:48)

This command to holiness is impossible in our own strength. However what God commands He enables us to accomplish. This is a major objective of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount. He sought to lead the hearer (and us as readers) to a sense of spiritual bankruptcy which recognizes the need for a Savior (and His indwelling Spirit), Who Alone can empower us to "be perfect and holy".

The daily prayers in the Jewish synagogue stressed holiness to God, and so the call to holiness would have been familiar to Peter's Jewish readers as well as to Gentiles who had learned Scripture from them.

Be (1096) (ginomai) is not the verb of being, but of “becoming.” It means to enter a new state..."to become" ..."to become holy." The verb is aorist imperative which is a command calling for a decisive action, even implying a sense of urgency. God is calling us to engage ourselves, to embrace holiness, to run after it - in deep dependence upon His transforming grace. As we watch our culture inextricably sinking into the abyss of ungodliness, it is urgent for us to let the holy light of Jesus shine forth to those around us that they might see His "Lighthouse", before they crash into the eternally deadly reef of gehenna.

Those who at one time were wholly controlled by their evil cravings, had through salvation entered into a new state of being, that of inward holiness, by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and this inward holiness was now to be worked out in the external expression in daily life. All believers are sharers in the New Covenant prophesied in Ezekiel, in which God promised to the future believing remnant of Israel

I will give you a new (Lxx = kainos = new in quality, never seen before) heart and put a new (Lxx = kainos = new in quality, never seen before) spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (Ezek 36:26-27)

Read this verse and again observing what is God's promise and what is our responsibility. Peter is commanding his readers who have a new heart and new spirit to be holy or as God  phrases it in Ezekiel to "be careful to observe My ordinances." But the only reason we can obey is because His Spirit is in us "to cause (us) to walk in (His) statutes."

Holiness is not merely the absence of the wrong. It is also the unmistakable presence of the right. We are to pass our few days on this earth with our hope riveted upon Christ’s soon return and our conduct reflective of Christ’s exuding holiness.

Holy (hagios) (Click for more on hagios; see also discussion of sanctification, hagiasmos) is translated elsewhere as saint and has in it the idea of separation and means set apart from secular, profane, evil and dedicated to worship and service of God. Kittel says that the old related Greek root word hagos signifies the object of awe.

Peter is not calling for an ordinary life but a separated life, one which is set apart from sin and the moral pollution of the world and unto God’s righteousness. Believers are not to cover up their characteristics as Christians by assuming an outward masquerade, patterned after the costume of this world.

Holy is not referring to our positional holiness (we are eternally "holy" in Christ) but to our experiential holiness. In other words our creed and our conduct are to be inseparable. One cannot exhibit right conduct without sound doctrine, but right (holy) conduct should always flow out of sound doctrine. Knowledge and action are inseparable. Peter is calling for a separated lifestyle which will be either

an aroma from death to death (or) to the other an aroma from life to life (1Cor 2:16)

We are God's possession by both the right of creation and the right of redemption. When we came to Christ, God set us apart from the rank and file of humanity. We are now the sons of God. Our new set apart character should lead to growth in Christ likeness and consecration to the service of God.

MacDonald writes that

Christians are empowered to live holy lives by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Old Testament saints did not have this help and blessing. But since we are more privileged, we are also more responsible. The verse Peter quotes from Leviticus acquires a new depth of meaning in the NT. It is the difference between the formal and the vital. Holiness was God’s ideal in the OT. It has assumed a concrete, everyday quality with the coming of the Spirit of truth. (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

As our pattern or standard of holiness we have nothing less than God's holiness! Holiness is be the desire and duty of every Christian. We are to do this out of our love for God, as a choice which is based on God's Word.  Old Testament holiness called for Israel to separate from everything ritually or morally impure. In Leviticus Moses records God's instruction on holiness writing

For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.  For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy. (Lev 11:44-45)

Commenting on this OT section John MacArthur writes that

In all of this, God is teaching His people to live antithetically. That is, He is using these clean and unclean distinctions to separate Israel from other idolatrous nations who have no such restrictions, and He is illustrating by these prescriptions that His people must learn to live His way. Through dietary laws and rituals, God is teaching them the reality of living His way in everything. They are being taught to obey God in every seemingly mundane area of life, so as to learn how crucial obedience is. Sacrifices, rituals, diet, and even clothing and cooking are all carefully ordered by God to teach them that they are to live differently from everyone else. This is to be an external illustration for the separation from sin in their hearts. Because the Lord is their God, they are to be utterly distinct. In Lev 11:44, for the first time the statement “I am the Lord your God” is made, as a reason for the required separation and holiness. After this verse, that phrase is mentioned about 50 more times in this book, along with the equally instructive claim, “I am holy.” Because God is holy and is their God, the people are to be holy in outward ceremonial behavior as an external expression of the greater necessity of heart holiness. The connection between ceremonial holiness carries over into personal holiness. The only motivation given for all these laws is to learn to be holy because God is holy. (MacArthur, J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word or Logos)

New Testament holiness calls for living morally pure lives despite the fact that we must live in sinful human society. We are to be holy in all we do, to “abstain from sinful desires,” and to keep our “behavior excellent among the Gentiles" ("the unsaved")” around us (2:12). And as already alluded to this holy living is motivated by a God-fearing faith that does not presume upon the redemption that was purchased at so great a cost (v18-19) but which focuses on the blessed hope of "future grace" (1Jn 3:2-3).

The Old Testament Hebrew word for holiness, kadesh, means “something which is cut off, separate or set apart.” It means to be anti-secular, in a category all its own, to elevate out of the sphere of what is ordinary. (Ron Dunn )

F B Meyer says that

Holiness is wholeness--that is, the whole-hearted devotion of a whole nature to God, the consecration of every power to His service. This leads us to lean hard on God, and to seek His companionship and fellowship. (Our Daily Walk, Feb 18th)

J. Vernon McGee has these helpful comments on the not too popular topic of holiness:

Holy does not mean sinless perfection, a condition impossible in this life (1John 1:8-10). Holiness is that is very misunderstood. To the average person, holiness means to assume a very pious attitude, to become almost abnormal in everyday life. It is thought to be a superficial thing. My friend, the Lord wants you to be a fully integrated personality. He wants you to enjoy life and have fun—I don’t mean the sinful kind of fun, but real delight and enjoyment in the life He has given to you. Holiness is to the spiritual life what health is to the physical life. You like to see a person who is physically fine, robust, and healthy. Well, holiness is to be healthy and robust spiritually. Oh, how we need folk like this today! (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary:  Thomas Nelson or Logos)

The call to holiness is a basic concept of 1 Peter, which has already surfaced in verse 2 (“the sanctifying [from the same Greek root] work of the Spirit”). It is prominent in the descriptions of Christians as a holy temple, a holy priesthood, and a holy people in 1 Peter 2:4-10. Christians are to live as persons dedicated to God’s service.

IN ALL YOUR BEHAVIOR: en pase anastrophe: (1Peter 2:12 - note; 3:16 - note; Phil 3:20 - note; 1Ti 4:12; Heb 13:5 - note; Js 3:13; 2Pe 3:11-14 - note)

In an excellent synopsis of what holiness looks like and why it is imperative for believers, J C Ryle writes that

(a) Holiness is the habit of agreeing with the mind with God, in accordance as we find His mind described in Scripture...

(b) A holy person will endeavor to turn away from every known sin, and to keep every known commandment....

(c) A holy person will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ...

(d) A holy person will pursue meekness, endurance, gentleness, patience, kindness, and control of their tongue...

(e) A holy person will pursue self-control and self-denial...

(f) A holy person will pursue love and brotherly kindness....

(g) A holy person will pursue a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others...

(h) A holy person will pursue purity of heart...

(i) A holy person will pursue the fear of God....

(j) A holy man will pursue humility....

(k) A holy man will pursue faithfulness in all the duties and relationships in life....

(l) Last, but not least, a holy person will pursue spiritual mindedness." (Read Holiness by J. C. Ryle for discussion of each point and practical a